Congratulations, Christopher!

Good friends, I am happy to announce that my pal Christopher Kemeza got into the Graphic Design BFA at GSU!! I'm really proud and happy for him (you can see his work here.) It was really wonderful to get such news this past week, because it hasn't been the easiest. For some reason, I spent most of this week nauseous and uncomfortable. I couldn't eat a full meal for three days and my outlook on the world was getting bleak. No, I'm definitely not preggars. Don't even think about it.

The other great news this week is that Craig and I have decided it's time to move into our own place. I've been tired of living in this apartment with our flatmate for months now, but finally, Craig agrees with me-- so I think we might actually do it this time!! I can't wait to move out. It'll be expensive, but it's so worth it, because I've run out of ways to make fun of our flatmate. Now I just can't stand her.

So we've begun the unbearable and torturous quest that is known to all Sydneysiders as "looking for an apartment, and then competing for the one you like." Sydney's rental market is so glutted with prospective tenants and so short on decent places to live that tons of quasi-illegal stuff ends up happening, but tenants have no power to stop it. For example: we saw 5 apartments this past week and two of them were falsely advertised. It's a really terrible competitive process, and all I want is to be moved out before my family gets here. That's my goal; I know it might not be acheivable, but it's what I'm trying for.

In other news, it's been a really social week. That's right. Because I'm never more entertaining than when I'm about to vomit. 2SER, the radio station I...radio (?) at, had a launch party because they moved into new offices. Craig and I caught up with the Final Draft bunch and we drank the free drinks and had a great time. The group headed over to Chinatown (because it's in pondering distance) and we settled down to some noodles, tofu, dumplings, and braised eggplant.

I told someone I was applying to ANU -- in Canberra-- for school, and a Final Drafter named Sara said, "Are you ready to be bored shitless?"

And here, my good, my dear, my forgiving friends, is where I make an ass of myself. You're not surprised, I know, because you have seen how I get. But in case you'd like a reminder, this is essentially what the rest of the conversation sounded like, though admittedly I was a little drunk, so I might be exaggerating a little:

n*: Well, um, no, but I don't find Sydney to be all that intellectually stimulating.

sara: Sydney's totally intellectually stimulating! I go to the theatre every weekend! I have tons of intellectual stimulation here!

n*: (imagine Homer Simpson here) Ooooh- hooo- hooo! The Theatre! Aren't you just clever and brilliant! I'm looking for MORE than just going to the theatre!

sara: And really, it just depends on who you're around; if you don't have any friends, then you will be really bored.

n*: Yeah! Wait. I do TOO have friends!! How dare you, lady?

sara: I wasn't saying you don't have friends--

n*: Pshaw! Anyway, it's just hip to hate on Canberra and say it's boring. Everyone says that--

sara: Yeah, but can you really live in Canberra?

n*: [snicker] I lived in Atlanta, in case you don't know.

sara: Everything's really inaccessible, though, everything's far apart--

n*: So? GET A BIKE! (really too loud)

sara: I'm really safety concious, I don't ride bikes

n*: Oooooh, sure, because your car is really really safe.

sara: I don't own a car.

n*: [silence]

sara: Sydney's just got so many nice restaurants--

And then of course, I pulled out my Ethiopian restaurant card, and the conversation quickly moved on to various other more interesting things. But for a minute there, things got very pointlessly heated. In the end, I didn't prove anything and I acted like an asshole. That side of me gives me such agida, you wouldn't believe. I know y'all back home are used to it, but I thought you should know that Australia hasn't really changed me.

I'm tired of everyone in Sydney acting like I'm an idiot for wanting to go to school. ANU is the best school in the country and has a really good program, but everyone in Sydney acts like deciding to go to school there makes me a boring person. I'm tired of this assumption, that no one likes Canberra, that it's a terrible place to live...

And I keep finding myself defending my choice, even though I'm not sure they're wrong. I might be incredibly bored in Canberra. I think the program I've applied for is great, but it might be awful. I might really regret leaving Sydney. They could be right... but, as you all know, I'm not the kind of woman who's going to let other people know that I'm worried I made the wrong decision. Even if I am worried they might be right.

Last night, Benedict came over to interview me about my book collection-- it's a segment we do, you go to someone's house, get drunk and talk about their books. Benedict's partner Monika came over later and Craig had made a full-on Ethiopian feast, including imitation injera, and we had a lovely night. Oh, there were also anise, almond and fig cookies called "Koala Noses" from The Veganomicon. Adorable. Benedict brought some of his home-brewed beer (an amber ale and an alcoholic ginger beer). It's definitely among the best homebrew we've had the pleasure of tasting & is the kind of thing that inspires you do try your hand at brewing some yourself.

I geeked out about my vintage graphic design books, Craig geeked out over engineering, and Benedict and Monika were incredibly patient with two such nerds as we. This morning I woke up still full, lazy and pleasantly hungover, with a hoarse voice; I haven't felt like that since the best nights with the oldest friends back home.

Moving to Canberra might be harder than I thought.